Why mobile chat requires kid gloves

Just as companies are getting comfortable managing their customers and their reputations on Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo and other forms of social media, they must now consider their approaches to mobile chat platforms such as Whatsapp, Weixin/WeChat and Line.

The numbers are certainly compelling: Whatsapp boasts over 250 million active users, WeChat and its Chinese bigger sister Weixin together count over 300 million users, some 100 million of which are outside mainland China, Line claims over 200 million users. Growth of mobile chat services is fast outpacing other social media forms and with the integration of payment solutions are likely to become a key marketing and communication channel.

Currently, the most powerful marketing applications of these services appears to lie in promotions (eg. Starbucks), customer service (Durex) and loyalty management (Coach). But what are the implications of mobile chat on managing corporate and brand reputation?

On the surface, the impact would appear limited. After all, mobile chat platforms are essentially about private conversations between friends. Content and dialogue are essentially limited to those directly engaged in the conversation and mobile discussions are not indexed by search engines.

On the other hand, research shows that while companies most often talk online about their products, they underestimate the importance of high-quality online customer service and overlook or avoid how they treat their own people and respond to negative situations. Anecdotal evidence suggests that mobile chat customers are weary of the volume of content being pushed at them by brands on mobile chat. Accordingly, WeChat has stated that it may limit the frequency with which official accounts can broadcast messages.

Mindful of this, organisations must ensure that the mobile chat touchpoints are professionally managed and user expectations met lest their audiences complain to their broader networks, especially on the open internet.

Specifically, they must:

Not spam users with content and conversations that are irrelevant or are seen to intrude on their time and privacy

Be seen to be proactively listening to users’ ideas and concerns

Ensure that online customer service is fast, helpful and trustworthy, with potential issues escalated and resolved quickly and personally

Develop a policy on which employees are allowed to participate in and respond to mobile-based conversations, and ensure these people are properly trained

Prioritise and handle appropriately important category, company or product stakeholders and influencers, especially those with large ‘open’ networks

Include mobile chat platforms when preparing for and responding to crises.

Fundamentally, the approach to managing reputation on mobile chat platforms needs be no different than for other social media. Yet given that mobile devices are highly personal and mobile chat apps are about one-to-one and/or one-to-many relationships amongst people with strong links, they are arguably more truly ‘social’ platforms than many others.

As Ford’s Scott Monty notes “The challenge for marketers is how we can continue to retain the trust that we’ve built and not squander it with activities in mobile that we might do just because we can.”

Companies must place particular emphasis on ensuring that the mobile user experience, not least dialogue, is treated with an especially soft touch.